manage a project with this many steps is to collaborate as much and as often as possible,” says
Stefano Acbano, PMP, self-built pavilions and
BIE liaison manager, Expo 2015, Milan, Italy.
“Strong collaboration with so many stakeholders
involved facilitates a mutual understanding and
strong communication.”

NUMBER CRUNCHING

Staying within budget required nonstop monitoring, occasional adjustments and taking the long
view from the very start. The initial budget was
created as an impassable threshold, Mr. Acbano
says, but some restrictions weren’t set in stone—
in part because the scope and duration of the
project presented too many unknowns that led to
inevitable adjustments.

For the program and project teams behind Expo
2015 in Milan, Italy, a global financial crisis turned
up the pressure from the very beginning. With the
country’s economy thrown into a recession near the
start of the seven-year program, which was funded
by a € 1. 3 billion investment by Italy’s national
government, sponsor oversight of the budget was
strict. Project managers were constantly engaged in
cost-control reviews with the national government
and Paris-based Bureau of International Exhibitions
(BIE), which governs all Expos.

With 140 participating countries, including 52
that agreed to build elaborate pavilions on the
event’s 110-hectare (272-acre) site, project managers walked a budget and stakeholder tightrope from
start to finish.

“In my experience, the only way you can

BY THE NUMBERS: EXPO 2015

62

140

184

28,000

36,000

21. 5 million€ 1. 3 billionVisiting heads of stateParticipating countriesDays the event lastedJournalistsVolunteers during the eventVisitorsItaly’s total investmentin site infrastructurePHOTOBYGABRIELEZANON.COURTESYOFEXPOMILANO